Coastal vs UMass
 This is the first meeting between Coastal Carolina and UMass.

CCU-UMass Connection
 While Coastal and UMass have never met, there is a strong connection between the two.
 CCU running backs coach Bill Durkin played offensive line for the Minutemen from 1990-93, graduated from UMass in 1994 and spent two seasons (1995 and `96) in the football strength staff. He was a consensus first team All-American as a senior (1993) and later named to the Yankee Conference 50th Anniversary All-Star Team. He was additionally a two-year captain as well as a two-year All-Yankee Conference pick.

Coastal In Season Openers (9-5)
 Coastal Carolina is 9-5 in season openers and has won each of its last six openers, including four straight on the road.
 The Chants won each of their first three season openers, including a 21-14 decision over Newberry in the program's first game as well as wins at Morehead State in 2004 and at Elon in 2005.
 Coastal then lost its next five season openers, falling to Elon at home in 2006 and dropping road games at Delaware State (2007), at #22 Penn State (2008), at Kent State (2009) and at #25 West Virginia (2010).
 Coastal has won each of its last six season openers, including a 29-13 victory in the 2012 season opener versus North Carolina A&T to begin the Joe Moglia era.

Coastal In Home Openers (11-3)
 Coastal is 11-3 in home openers and has won each of its last six home openers.
 This marks just the fifth time CCU has opened the season at home and the Chants are 3-1 when the season opener is also the home opener.
 Coastal has not opened the season at home since a 29-13 victory over North Carolina A&T in what was the first game of the Joe Moglia era.
 The first game CCU played in its history was a home opener to start the 2003 season and CCU defeated Newberry 21-14.
 One of the biggest wins in CCU history was the home opener of 2005. Coastal, in year three of the program, opened the year by hosting top-ranked and defending national champion James Madison. Coastal's Tyler Thigpen hit Perry Parks for an eight-yard score with 30 seconds left in the game to claim a 31-27 win.

Coastal Carolina versus FBS
 Coastal only played seven NCAA Division I FBS programs in its first 16 seasons as a program (2003-16). The Chanticleers are 0-7 in such games and were out-scored 331-51.
 The last time Coastal faced an FBS program was in 2013 when the Chanticleers --ranked #7 in the FCS -- made the short trip to Columbia to face then #11 South Carolina and lost 70-10. The setback ultimately set the stage for CCU to host and beat #12 Bethune-Cookman in the first round of the FCS Playoffs, travel to Montana to come away with one of the all-time upsets in FCS history with a 42-35 win over #4 Montana and fall to eventual national champion North Dakota State in the FCS Quarterfinal.
 The closest Coastal got to winning a game versus an FBS team was a 38-28 loss at Toledo in what was Coach Moglia's fourth game as CCU head coach.

Coastal Closes FCS With Impressive Run
 Head coach Joe Moglia started his tenure at CCU with a 2-4 record in 2012. From that point to the end of the 2016 season, Coastal was 44-6 (.880) over its last 50 regular-season games versus FCS opponents. Coastal was 48-10 (.828) over its last 58 overall games versus FCS opponents (including a 4-4 mark in eight in playoff games).

CCU 2nd in NCAA with 17 Graduates Playing in `17
 Coastal Carolina has 15 of its 17 football seniors with undergraduate degrees and, with two juniors that received degrees in August 2017, a total of 17 football Chants will either be working on their Masters or a second undergraduate degree this fall.
 The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame released a list of 952 student-athletes who have already earned their undergraduate degrees and will be playing college football this fall while pursuing second diplomas. Coastal Carolina had the second-most graduates in all division of NCAA college football that will be playing this fall with 17, trailing only Northwestern with 18.
^ 18 -- Northwestern
^ 17 -- Coastal Carolina
^ 14 -- Cincinnati, East Carolina
^ 13 -- Toledo
^ 12 -- TCU, Alabama, Oregon
^ 11 -- Georgia State, Kansas State, Maryland, UCF, USF, Virginia
^ 10 -- Kent State, Nevada, New Mexico, South Alabama, Texas Tech, West Virginia